This past summer, as torrential rains flooded Pakistan creating the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history, an anonymous veteran intelligence analyst,who heads the CIA’s year old Center on Climate Change and National Security, viewed the catastrophe as a warning to the major powers.

Climate experts have zeroed in on La Nina as a major factor in widespread floodinf around the world. The La Niña is evident in the image left by the large pool cooler than normal (blue and purple) water stretching from the eastern to the central Pacific Ocean, reflecting lower than normal sea surface heights.

“This La Niña has strengthened for the past seven months, and is one of the most intense events of the past half century,” said Climatologist Bill Patzert of NASA JPL.

The Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason-2 satellite image of the Pacific Ocean s based on the average of 10 days of data centered on Dec. 26, 2010. The new image depicts places where the Pacific sea surface height is higher (warmer) than normal as yellow and red, with places where the sea surface height is lower (cooler) than normal as blue and purple. Green indicates near-normal conditions. Sea surface height is an indicator of how much of the sun’s heat is stored in the upper ocean.